Eleanor Jackson and Charlie Weasley
by 11greengummybears
Summary: It's Charlie's first year at Hogwarts, and he meets Eleanor Jackson. They quickly become best friends, and this story tells of their friendship, adventures, and many, many, laughs. from Eleanor's POV
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Hi. I'm Eleanor Jackson. I have long brown hair cut in choppy layers that always seem to find a way into my face. I have bright green eyes and freckles on the bridge of my nose and on my cheeks. My face is long and thin and ends in a pointed jaw. I'm shorter than everybody else, and while I was eleven, people still found a way to mistake me for an eight year old. Nothing special about me, right? Wrong. I'm a witch. And this is the story of everything between then and now.

I could see the train station nearing and the nervousness in the pit of my stomach was out of control. Soon I would be on m way to a place I had been dreaming of since my parents told me I was a witch. Mind you, it had only been 2 months ago on my birthday, but it felt like a lifetime. My parents had already taken me to get all my supplies for this school year at Hogwarts. It was all so new to me, and it had only just struck me that I would have to be making all new friends. The butterflies grew larger. I had never been that good at making friends, and I was pretty sure that making friends with witches and wizards would be much harder. They all probably knew they were magical before me, and they probably grew up with their mom or dad doing magic sometime.

As my dad pulled into the parking lot, I felt like I might be sick. I pushed my cart into the station with my cat, Tucker, trotting along beside me. He seemed to know exactly where he was going, Platform 9. Wait, Platform 10. No, it said Platform 9 ¾. I was really confused, but I said goodbye to my parents and headed to platform 9 anyway.

At Platform 9, there was a tall man with a brown scruffy beard standing below the sing for the platform. He saw my trunk and my cat and started walking towards me. He had a pleasant smile, and was wearing a coat that came all the way to the floor. He bent down next to me and asked, "First year?" in a hushed tone.

I nodded at him, wondering how he knew.

"Do you know how to get to Platform 9 ¾?"

I answered by shaking my head.

"That's fine, my son is a first year, too. Watch him." He gestured to a tall boy with a pointed nose and kind, smiling eyes. He looked a lot like his father.

The boy waved at me then started pushing his cart towards the barrier in between Platform 9 and 10. He started running and I began to worry about him hitting the wall; but the boy kept on going, straight towards the solid brick barrier, and before I knew it, he ran into it. But he just vanished; there was no crash or anything, he was just gone!

"Ok, you go ahead and try it, then. Just run straight up to the barrier. You'll be on the other side in no time." The man told me.

"Are you mad?!" I exclaimed. No way was I going to run into a brick wall!

"No! Of course not! Watch me do it, then. But you have to come after me, or I'm coming back for you." After that, the man walked straight for the barrier, just like the boy did, and when he reached it, he didn't stop; he just walked right through it. The wall had swallowed him whole!

I had no other available choice at the moment, so I went ahead and started to push my cart towards the wall. I tried not to think about what I was doing as I started into a run. When I met the wall, I pushed into it and I was in darkness; just for a moment, and then I arrived at the other side. There was a huge gleaming black and red train sitting on the tracks. The words _"Hogwarts Express" _were painted on the side in gold. There were kids boarding it on every entrance. I couldn't see the end of the train it was so long.

The man and his son were waiting for me a couple feet away. "Good, you decided to come! I was afraid you would run off!" The older man said to me. "This is Jonathan, my son. He'll show you onto the train in a second." He started saying goodbye to his son, so I looked around and gave them some privacy.

I saw so many different kinds of animals; there were owls in cages on people's trolley's, cats following kids around, even some toads here and there. I had almost gotten an owl, they're so beautiful, but I had always wanted a cat, and Tucker was perfect. He was midnight black with electrical blue eyes. He was just barely old enough to be a full-grown ct, but he still somewhat looked like a kitten. I spotted a boy with a rat, too. He had bright red hair, along with every other person in his family. He was saying goodbye to his mom and dad when Jonathan tapped me on the shoulder and told me it was time to get on the train.

We waved goodbye to his dad, and climbed aboard. We walked down the isle of small cabin rooms and found one that was empty except for a small blonde girl. We opened the door and asked her if we could join her for the ride to Hogwarts.

"Sure!" She said, eagerly scooting her stuff aside for us to sit down. Jonathan and I put our stuff above the seats. "What are your names?" She asked us, her blue eyes looking us over, taking us in.

"I'm Jonathan Peak." Jonathan said, holding out his hand for her to shake.

"And I'm Eleanor Jackson." I shook her hand also.

"Oh, those are lovely names. I'm Alice Thompson. Nice to meet you! I'm so excited to be going to Hogwarts, I've been thinking about it ever since I was a kid, I can't believe I'm actually about to be on my way! My mom told me all about it…" And Alice kept talking to Jonathan and I, and we kept listening. It was nice, her talking. I wasn't a big talker myself, and she was so pleasant to listen to. She talked a lot, but it never bothered me. She had talked about almost every subject; her owl, the books we would be using at Hogwarts, what the food would be like; when she got interrupted by a knock on the cabin door. It was the red-haired boy I had seen earlier.

"Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full." He had a freckled face, and green eyes. His hair was shaggy, and sticking up in some parts, like he couldn't control it.

"Why of course! What's your name?" Alice asked him.

"Charlie. Weasley." Charlie put his stuff up and sat down next to me.

"I'm Alice Thompson." She smiled at him.

"Oh." Charlie looked expectantly at Jonathan.

"Oh yeah, I'm Jonathan Peak."

"And I'm Eleanor Jackson." I smiled and shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you all." He said, beaming at all of us.

"So what house does everybody think they'll be in?" Alice asked us.

Jonathan was the first to answer. "I don't know. I think I'll be fine with whatever house they put me in."

"I want to be in Gryffindor, but I don't know if that'll be what they put me in." Charlie answered.

"I want to be in Ravenclaw. I think that's the best house, personally." Alice said. "What about you, Eleanor?"

"Sorry, what houses are there?" I felt so silly asking that question, but I had no idea what they were talking about. I knew there were separate houses, but I didn't know what they were called, much less, what they were about!

"Oh. Are your parents not wizards? That's fine! Well, according to _"Hogwarts, A History"_, Gryffindor is for the brave at heart. They're daring and chivalrous, too. Hufflepuff's are patient and loyal, and also just and true. Ravenclaw's are witty and wise, and Slytherin's are cunning, ambitious and sly." Alice explained to me.

"Oh. Well, I have no idea what I'll be put in. Hufflepuff's seem nice, but I don't think I would be put in there. I'm sure I would be fine with whatever." I told everybody.

"Well, whatever I'm in, I certainly don't want to be in Slytherin." Jonathan said.

"Why? It seems an interesting house." I asked him.

"My older brother warned me about them. He said they were horrible, and their headmaster is cruel."

"I'm sure most of that is just rumor, don't you think? How bad could they be, really?" I didn't understand how people could talk about how wonderful this school was, and a fourth of the students be unbearable.

"Well, I guess we'll all just have to find out when we get there, won't we?" Alice said, trying to cheer everybody up. "Speaking of, we should probably get our robes on, we'll most likely bee there soon."

"But the sweets trolley hasn't even come yet! My dad gave me money for it!" Jonathan insisted.

"Oh. Well I'm going to get my robes on anyway. Eleanor, you want to?" She asked me.

"Sure." I replied.

"We'll be right back. See you." Alice stepped out into the isle with her bag of clothes and I quickly followed.

I was eager to get out of the small cabin, and leave my embarrassment behind. We made our way to the girl's lavatory and stepped inside. We quickly changed into our robes and stuffed our other clothes into our bags. As we made our way back, Alice tried to strike up conversation.

"Jonathan seems nice. You think so?"

I thought for a moment. "Yeah, I guess so. Why?"

"Oh, no reason." We walked in silence for a moment. "And Charlie does too. He's quiet, don't you think?"

"Hm? Oh, sure." After that, Alice didn't try to talk to me anymore.

When we got back to the cabin, Jonathan told us, "You missed the sweets trolley! I got enough for everyone though. Want some?"

"I would love some!" Alice replied, immediately.

"I'm fine, I'm not that hungry anyway." I told him.

I sat down on my seat, which was thankfully by the window, and sat down. I wasn't really in the mood for talking anymore, I was just nervous about getting sorted into my house. I made some friends already, and they all seemed nice enough; though Jonathan kind of got on my nerves. I hoped I would be able to make friends in whichever house I got put into. I wondered if maybe Alice and I would be in the same house, though I doubted it, we were hardly anything alike. I closed my eyes and listened to everybody else talking and I was soon fast asleep, dreaming about what Hogwarts would be like.

"Eleanor?" Someone was shaking me. "Eleanor!"

"What?" I sat up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

Charlie stood over me. "You fell asleep. We're here! It's time to get off the train, Eleanor!" He looked extremely excited.

"Oh, how long was I out?" I asked him.

"About 2 hours." He told me as he helped me get my trunk down from overhead. "You didn't miss much though. Well, except the sunset. Alice went on and on about it." He rolled is eyes at me.

"Thanks." I laughed. "Well, I'm glad I wasn't awake for that."

"You should be." He smiled at me. "It took us a while to realize you were asleep, we kept on talking to each other as if you were part of the conversation and Alice finally asked you a question and you never answered, and then she realized you weren't awake!"

"Speaking of Alice, where is she? And Jonathan?" I wondered.

"They went on out, they said they wanted to be one of the first people out, so I stayed back and woke you up."

"Oh, thanks."

"Anytime. We should probably go now, it looks like most everybody is off the train."

"Ok."

We went down the isle of with a couple of other first years that were lagging behind. When we got off the train, there was a man waiting for us on the platform. But this wasn't just some old guy; he was _huge_. He was wearing a thick fur coat, and his face was almost all the way covered up by his bushy hair and beard. Charlie and I gawked at him.

"Firs' years, follow me!" The man bellowed over and over again.

Charlie and I followed the man towards a lake with small boats ready to be boarded. Charlie, me, and two other kids that I didn't know got into one of them. As soon as we got settled, the boat pushed off on its own, and we started sailing towards the castle looming overhead. Alice had talked about what it would look like some on the train, but I had hardly paid attention. Whatever she said, it was nothing compared to what was before us, it was a mansion times 50, and it was beautiful. I made a mental note to write a letter to my mom about it, she would have loved to see it.

"Wow." Charlie said, sitting behind me.

"It's beautiful." I whispered.

I couldn't believe it, I was finally at Hogwarts.

A/N – Thanks for reading! Please review :D


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The man led us into the castle, and stopped us at a pair of double doors about as tall as a two-story house. There, a thin lady with graying hair under a pointed hat told us our instructions.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." She said. "In a little bit, these doors will open and I will lead you through the Great Hall to where you will be sorted. There are four houses: Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. During your stay at Hogwarts, you will share living areas with your house, have classes at the same time as your house, and have free time with you house." She paused and looked over our group. "I will come get you when it is time."

I looked at Charlie. "So, what do we do now?" I asked him.

"Wait." He replied.

I felt someone tap my shoulder and I turned around. It was Alice. "There you are! I couldn't find you at the boats."

"Oh sorry, Charlie and I just rode in the first one we saw." I told her.

"Well I found you now. Aren't you nervous? I am. I really hope I'm in Ravenclaw!" She exclaimed.

I hoped she was in Ravenclaw too. It would be horrible for her to hope about something like that and then be let down.

Jonathan came up behind Alice. "Hey, where've you guys been?"

Charlie cut in for me. "Well you were the one who decided to take off without Eleanor or me."

"Sorry, didn't mean to pick a fight…" Jonathan looked down and didn't say much more after that.

"So when do we get to go in? I'm hungry." I said.

"That's the reason you want to go in? I just want to get sorted, I'd be too nervous to eat!" Alice looked at me, confused.

"I like food." I stated.

"Well, I do too, but – Oh, never mind."

The lady with the pointed hat returned. "I will now lead you into the Great Hall. Please, come to order, and please at least _try_ to stay in somewhat of a line, would you?"

Everyone around me shuffled about until we were in an OK line, I guess. Charlie, Alice, and Jonathan were still next to me, so I was glad. The doors opened and we started walking. I couldn't see where I was going, I was short for my age, but Charlie tapped my arm and pointed up. I looked at the ceiling and gasped. It was a mirror image of the night sky! Stars twinkled here and there and a sheet of wispy clouds was laid upon them. All I could do was walk, numbly, in the direction of everyone else and gape up at the sky ceiling.

"Pretty amazing, huh?" Charlie asked from my left.

"Just a tad." I replied.

"It's beautiful! The most wonderful thing I've seen in my entire life!" Alice whispered on my right.

"Wow." I guess that was all Jonathan could manage at the moment.

We were walking in between two long tables. Seated at the tables were kids, all older I guessed. There were four tables altogether.

"The four tables seat the four houses. When you get sorted, you walk over to your house's table and sit down. See, this one is Gryffindor." Alice pointed to our left.

"How can you tell?" I asked her.

"The banners."

"Oh." There were banners hanging down over each table. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin. Slytherin's banner caught my eye. It was embroidered emerald green and silver, and right in the middle was a serpent. Bold. It was beautiful. The way the stitches fit together made everything flow. Ravenclaw's was magnificent also. An eagle was on this one, and bronze and blue danced with each other at the edges. Gryffindor had an amazing lion roaring in the middle. Red and gold stitches were placed neatly on the sides. I didn't get to take a good look at Hufflepuff's, just a glimpse of a badger and some yellow and black, before we stopped walking and the lady stepped up before us. She placed a ratty old hat on a stool and walked off a little ways.

All of a sudden the hat came to life, and began to sing, of all things! It welcomed us, explained the houses and sang about some other things. And it did it all in a rhyme!

"I'm so nervous!" Alice whispered next to me.

"Shhh!" Charlie nudged her.

"Shush yourself!" Alice nudged back.

"Oh, would you two please _shut up!" _I exclaimed. Well, as much as you can 'exclaim' while trying to whisper.

"Sorry." Charlie and Alice muttered.

"When I call your name, please step forward and sit on the stool. I will place the hat on your head and you will be sorted into one of the four houses." The lady pulled out a scroll from her robes and started to read out the names.

"Lydia McDonald!"

A taller girl with short brown hair stepped forward and sat on the stool. The hat was placed on her head and after a few seconds of waiting, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Riley Terrace!"

This time a shorter girl with bouncing curls stepped up. "SLYTHERIN!"

"Sam Greene!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Jean Corner!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Alice Thompson!"

I smiled at Alice encouragingly and watched her go up and sit on the stool. Not even a second after the hat was placed on her head it shouted, "RAVENCLAW!" Alice beamed with joy as she ran over to Ravenclaw's table.

A couple more names were called, and Charlie, Jonathan, and I waited patiently for our names to be called.

"Jonathan Peak!"

Jonathan slowly moved forward to the stool. The hat was placed on his head and Jonathan looked at Charlie and me nervously. "HUFFLEPUFF!"

After Jonathan, a few more people were sorted: two to Ravenclaw, three more to Gryffindor, and one to Hufflepuff.

"Charlie Weasley!"

Charlie gave me one last glance before heading to the stool. He sat down and the hat was placed on his head. "GRYFFINDOR!" I smiled at Charlie. I was glad that he got what he wanted. He smiled back and then sat down at the Gryffindor table.

It was only me and a couple of other kids now.

Before long, my name was called. "Eleanor Jackson!" My heart stopped. I stepped forward and sat down on the stool. I felt the hat land on my head, and it started talking to me.

"Hmmm… Well, let's see here. A muggle-born, yes? Ooh, very interesting. I see a very bright and intelligent brain. Oh, but also a kind heart. Then again, a brave and loyal personality, you would do anything for your friends. Ah, but your soul. Yes, I see who you are. You are a dreamer! Ambitious, yes? And also able to do most anything if you set your mind to it. Cunning with your speech, I know. Clever in your wit, and you can also be slightly devious if you feel up to it. Yes, I know exactly where to put _you_ young lady." And then, before I could comprehend anything that he said, he boomed out to the whole school, "SLYTHERIN!"

I breathed a sigh of relief, it was over. I stood up and walked over to my table. I tried to make eye contact with Charlie, Alice and Jonathan as I walked. Alice gave me a smile and a thumbs up. Charlie just gave me a small smile. I couldn't make eye contact with Jonathan; he looked very interested with the sleeve on his robe, though.

When I made it to the Slytherin table I sat down next to the curly haired girl that I had seen earlier.

"Hi!" She greeted me. She had a Scottish accent. "I'm Riley."

"I'm Eleanor."

"I know, I heard your name called."

"Oh."

"So, do you have wizard parents?" She asked.

"Um, no. Both of my parents are.. regular?"

"You mean muggles?"

"I guess so, what does that mean?"

"Oh! It just means people who aren't witches or wizards. So, _both_ of your parents are muggles?"

"Yes."

Her expression was confused for a moment before she quickly smiled again and said, "I see. Both of my parents are magical. They went here when they were my age!"

"Wow, that's really cool." I told her.

"Thanks!" She looked to a boy that was sitting across from us. "What's your name?"

He looked up at us. He had light brown hair and a tan face. "Sam Greene. You two?"

"I'm Riley Terrace and this is Eleanor Jackson." Riley said.

"Nice to meet you. So, I guess we're stuck with each other for the rest of Hogwarts, huh?" He smirked.

I immediately spotted the humor on his lips and played along. "Pity. I was hoping for different people anyway."

Riley gasped. "You guys are so mean! And you've only just met!"

"Whatever, I'm glad _someone_ here recognizes sarcasm when they hear it." He shrugged. "I think we're going to be good friends, Eleanor."

"Me too." I nodded.

Soon, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore I was told, stood up and gave a short speech welcoming the first year. After, he sat down at a long table facing all of the other tables, and a wonderful feast was placed before us. Maybe I shouldn't say 'placed', it was more like: 'appeared'. One second it wasn't there, and next, it was!

Sam, Riley, and I ate and talked and got to know each other. It was great having friends already, even if it was only our first night. I was happy, and thought about the years ahead and what would become of them.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

(Set in the beginning of Eleanor's fourth year)

"Ellie!"

I turned around at the familiar voice calling my nickname. There was only one person who called me that, and that had to be… "Charlie!"

He engulfed me in a bone-crushing hug and spun me around, lifting me off of the ground. When he finally let me down he held me at arms length and looked me over. "You got more freckles! I think. I dunno, something just looks so different about you…"

"I haven't changed a bit Charlie, don't worry." I beamed at him.

He had gotten about a foot taller over the summer, making him tower even more so over me. His face was still full of freckles and his excited green eyes stood out as they looked into mine. "Shall we go find Alice and Jonathan?" He asked.

"Yes, I can't wait to see them!"

We walked off together, having already said goodbye to our parents, and boarded the train. It didn't take very long until we found Jonathan and Alice sitting in one of the train compartments. They were talking together, and didn't notice Charlie and I until we opened the door.

Alice jumped up. "Eleanor! It's so great to see you! Jon and I were just wondering when you two would be getting here." She smiled. She was even more beautiful than she was last year; her blonde hair matched her blue eyes perfectly, and she carried herself with so much grace.

Jon stood up and hugged Charlie and me. We all sat down and started talking about what our summer was like, and soon enough the train left the station and we were on our way back to Hogwarts. "So, what was your summer like, Jon?" Alice asked him, after she finished telling us about her fun-filled adventures she had with her parents travelling the world.

"It was really cool, I got to go with my dad to work a lot at the Ministry of Magic and learn about what he does and stuff like that."

"That sounds nice. What about you, Charlie? What was your summer like?"

"Oh, um.. I didn't really do anything this summer. We just stayed at home."

"Oh. Well that's cool I guess." Alice said. "And you, Eleanor? Did you do anything?"

"I went to go visit some of my family in New York City. It's really cool, I had a lot of fun!" I said.

"Oh wow, that sounds like fun!"

"Hey guys, speaking of summers, next summer my mom said that I could have some friends come and stay with us for one or two weeks, would you want to come?" Charlie asked all of us.

"Oh, Charlie, that would be amazing!" Alice exclaimed.

I looked at him. "I would love to!"

Jonathan just said, "Well I'm going to have to ask my dad… But yeah that would be cool."

"I hope you all can come!"

"I hope so too! We could meet your twin little brothers you're always talking about, Charlie!" Alice said.

"Yeah, and it'd be nice hanging out with you guys without having to worry about homework all the time." I said.

They all laughed. "You're right, that would be pretty nice." Jon agreed.

Our compartment door opened and a the trolley lady poked her head in. "Anything from the trolley?"

"Ooh! I've been saving up all summer for this!" Alice said, excitedly. "About 6 of everything, please!" She pulled out a moneybag while we all sat and gaped at her.

"And will that be all?" The lady asked.

"Yes I think so. Thank you!" Alice paid her, and got her sweets.

"Well, you better be sharing that." Charlie said looking at all of the sweets now lying around in our compartment.

"Of course! Do you think I'm a pig? Here, have a Bertie Bott's."

Charlie took the Bertie Bott's and muttered thanks.

"Jon, what do you want?" Alice asked.

"Um.. 2 chocolate frogs, 3 licorice, 2 Bertie Bott's and a few lemon drops please."

"Sure! What about you Eleanor?"

"A chocolate frog, Bertie Bott's, and a piece of licorice please."

Alice handed all of us our sweets and we sat in silence for a while, eating. Charlie, Alice, and Jon started striking up conversation again after we had all finished with our sweets, but I curled up in my seat with Tucker cuddled next to me, and gazed out the window. I fell asleep not two minutes later, lulled to sleep by the constant sound of my friends talking and laughing. It had become quite a tradition for me to fall asleep on the train to and from Hogwarts, and when we reached our destination, it was always the same familiar redhead waking me up, because Alice and Jon always wanted to be the first off the train.

"Ellie…"

"Hm?"

"Ellie, it's time to wake up now."

"Mrow?"

"Tucker's right, we'll be late for the carriages if you don't get up… Ellie!"

I opened my eyes and met the green ones peering over me.

"Finally! You're up! I was afraid I would have to _carry_ you out."

I didn't answer, I was far too tired to think straight.

"You're right, you haven't changed a bit, you still give me the silent treatment until you're fully awake. All right then, I guess I'll have to do all the talking. Although I'm no Alice, I can still talk a fair amount! Don't you think, Tucker?"

"Meow?" Tucker looked up at Charlie, confused.

"Yep. Ok Ellie, it looks like we're going to have to get off the train now. Come on."

I stood up and got my Bertie Bott's Beans that I still hadn't eaten and stuck them in my bag. Charlie slung his arm around my shoulders and led me out of the compartment and to the nearest exit. I was still half asleep and felt like I would collapse and sleep on the train floor forever. But I had to stay awake; I hadn't even gotten to Hogwarts yet!

Charlie looked down at me. "You awake yet?"

"Almost."

"Good. At least you said a word. That's an improvement!" He chuckled.

I smiled at him, and we walked towards the carriages. We spotted Jon and Alice waiting for us by one. "There you are! I half expected you to never show up; I bet Eleanor was hard to wake." Alice said.

"Yeah, but I got her. Don't worry, she'll probably start talking in a minute or two."

"Hey, I'm not that bad!" I defended myself.

"Oh! And she finds her voice!" Charlie joked.

"Shut up, Charlie." I laughed.

We all got in a carriage and started to ride to Hogwarts. But these weren't just any old horse-drawn carriages. They pulled themselves. No horses, pure magic. I loved school. I don't think you would ever catch a muggle saying that, but for a witch or wizard, sure! It was such an amazing experience. I couldn't believe I was already on my fourth year. It had gone by so fast, although the summers always seemed horribly long.

Hogwarts castle was getting nearer and nearer and I could see the tips of the highest towers peaking out from the trees. I could almost smell the feast awaiting us, and my stomach grumbled. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until I thought about the feast. It was always so delicious! There were tons of different kinds of meat, soups, sides, and always the most amazing dessert. The pudding was heavenly. Las year Sam and I snuck back a whole bowl of pudding to the Slytherin common room. Our Head of Slytherin House, Professor Snape, found out though, and we got detention for it. Sam and I thought it was worth it, but Riley wouldn't speak to us for a few days. She had tried to talk us out of stealing the pudding, and so did Lydia, her friend from Hufflepuff house, but it didn't work. Sam and I loved that pudding too much, and there was no keeping us away from it.

We were almost to Hogwarts now, and I stared up at the magnificent walls of the castle. It's beauty took my breath away every time I came back for the winter, and all I could do was stare. "Ooh! It's always so exciting, the welcome feast. I wonder what the first years will be like this year!" Alice thought aloud.

"It's my brother's first year this year." Charlie said.

"No way! You never told us that." I piped up.

"You were asleep when I mentioned it, Ellie." He smirked at me.

"Oh."

"What's his name?" Alice asked.

"Percy. You'll see him when he walks in, he's got red hair just like mine."

"My sister's going to be coming next year, she's so excited. Do you two have any siblings?" Alice asked us.

"No, I'm an only child." Jon said.

"I have a brother, but I don't think he's magical. He's only seven though."

"We're here!" Charlie said as the carriage slowed to a stop.

We all got out and entered through the main entrance along with all of the other students. We flooded into the Great Hall and Charlie and I waved goodbye to Alice and Jon, already heading to their tables. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. I checked your schedule while you were sleeping. We only have a couple classes together. Meet me after Breakfast and we'll check again." Charlie said to me.

"Ok, sounds good." He gave me a quick hug and then waved goodbye, turning around to walk towards the Gryffindor table. I tried to find Sam and Riley but I couldn't so I decided to save them seats at our table.

"Eleanor!" I heard my name shouted. Sam and Riley were running to where I was sitting and shouting my name. I stood up and prepared for impact.

It didn't take long before they reached me, and hugged me until I couldn't breathe. "Oof! Guys, you're crushing me! I love you too and all, but I need to breathe!" I said, gasping for air.

They let go and beamed at me. "I missed you!" Riley said first.

"I missed you too!" Sam said, glaring at Riley because she beat him to it.

"I missed you guys too." I smiled at both of them. "Now sit down, the first years are about to come in!"

Sam had gotten so much taller I noticed, and Riley's curls were even curlier. She had been growing her hair out since her first year. I remembered watching her step up to the sorting hat and having her ringlets cut to her jaw. They were so much longer now, and they were beautiful.

Everybody hushed, and Professor Mcgonagall walked through the doors with a trail of first years following behind her. I immediately spotted Charlie's brother Percy. His hair was such a bright red that it looked as if someone's robes had caught on fire.

The rest of the night went by in a blur, Percy got sorted into Gryffindor, the food was amazing, and Sam and I had about ten bowls of pudding each. When the feast was done I felt like I was going to explode, and my eyelids were getting heave and starting to droop.

Riley and I made our way from the Slytherin common room to the girls dormitory after saying goodnight to Sam. We stepped in to the large circular room and I relaxed. Home. I was finally home. There were only five other girls in the room with us, so there were only seven of us all in all, but it was nice. We all knew each other extremely well, it was kind of scary. Eliza slept in the bed next to me on my left, and she got homesick and would sometimes wake me up in the middle of the night crying because she needed someone to comfort her. Riley slept in the bed to my right. Next to Riley was Madison, she didn't talk to us very much, she was shy, but she had a kind heart. Then there was Ivy next to Madison, she had nightmares sometimes and we would have to wake her up. Next to Eliza was Lucky, well, that was what she was called, we've never known her real name. She would talk in her sleep a lot. And then there was Carolynn. She hated all or our guts and had a foul mouth. We didn't bother her, she didn't bother us. She got very annoyed at Eliza being homesick though, and we all thought that _she_ was the cause of Ivy's nightmares. We were all first years together and now we were on our fourth year. "Well, we made it this far, let's just hope that Carolynn doesn't kill us all." Madison had said in our third year. That was our motto or whatever you call it from then on, and we would mutter it to each other when Carolynn would go off on one of her rants about how dumb we all were.

When Eliza saw that I had arrived she ran up to me and gave me a hug. "You're here! I saw you at dinner but you disappeared. I'm so glad to be back. And I'm determined not to get homesick this year!"

Carolynn snorted. "Let's see how far _that_ gets."

Eliza's face fell, and she looked at me with sad eyes. "You'll do great, Z, I believe in you." I said to her, trying to be encouraging. Unlike_ some _people. I gave Carolynn a glare.

Eliza immediately smiled. "Thanks!" She pitter-pattered back to her bed and hopped on, bundling herself up in the covers and falling asleep almost instantly.

I walked over to my bed and looked at it for a while. It held so many memories. One time when Eliza was missing home more than usual I let her come onto my bed and we ate tons of chocolate frogs that I had saved for a special occasion. We sat and ate our frogs and talked about what we loved most about Hogwarts, and why we loved to come back every year. She fell asleep curled up at the end of my bed so I moved to her bed and let her sleep.

I got into my bed and was about to lay my head down on the pillow and let sleep take me away, but Riley jumped on my bed and whispered, "Don't go to sleep yet!"

I glared at her. "And why shouldn't I?"

"Because I need to ask you a question and you _love_ me!"

"Riley, I'm so tired, it's late! Can't this wait until tomorrow night?" I begged.

"No!"

"Fine, what is it?" I surrendered.

She looked around, making sure everyone was asleep. "Do you think Sam likes me?"

"What kind of a question is that?"

"One that needs and answer. Yes or no?"

"Well, he hasn't told me otherwise." I shrugged.

"That's not yes or no."

"Do you want me to find out if he likes you?"

"No, I just want you to tell me what you think!"

"I did tell you what I thought. I said he hasn't told me otherwise."

"That's not what you think, Eleanor! Now, let's try this again. _Do you think Sam likes me?_"

I paused for a minute. "I don't see why not. Do you like him?"

"Yes."

"Ok, well, I answered your question. Twice. Now, go to bed!" I told her, pushing her off my bed.

"Fine. I'm not satisfied though."

"Goodnight."

She sighed, but got ready for bed anyway.

I finally laid my head down and shut my eyes. Ah, sleep. I was so tired, but so ready to start my year at Hogwarts. I wondered what adventures my friends and I would have this year. I wondered if Sam really _did_ like Riley. This year was going to be a good one, and it was well worth the wait.


End file.
